TVs, Displays and Mounts

Customers wanting to know the HDR capability of a future monitor get a helping hand from the DisplayHDR-- a VESA standard setting baseline HDR quality levels for PC displays.

Developed with the input of over two dozen member companies, the High-Performance Monitor and Display Compliance Test Specification (or DisplayHDR) measure 3 distinct levels of HDR performance. These are baseline (DisplayHDR 400), mid-range (DisplayHDR 600) and high-end (DisplayHDR 1000), with each level based on 8 parameters.

The architect behind development of the Cd-free quantum dot technology, Dr. Eunjoo Jang at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) was just appointed a Samsung Fellow-- an honor also referred to as “Samsung’s Nobel Prize.”

One of the breakthrough achievements of Samsung researchers has been the development of cadmium-free quantum dot technology, used currently in Samsung QLED TVs.

While quantum dot had the benefit of delivering superior light expression, the technology posed harm to the environment with toxic cadmium at risk of being released through nanoparticle degradation. Samsung’s quantum dots, however, are cadmium-free, and Samsung is currently the only company that produces cadmium-free (Cd-free) quantum dot displays.

OLED continues to dominate the high-end TV market in 2018, TrendForce's WitsView says, with shipments reaching a high of 2.5 million-- a "significant" increase over the shipments of 1.5m of 2017.

Driving such growth are more brands entering the OLED market, as well as promotional efforts from major vendors such as Sony. This comes despite the problems of OLED technology, namely colour decay and burn-in issues, and more companies are looking into further developing the technology. On the other hand QLED TV makers, including Samsung, TCL and Hisense, are finding the high pricing of QLED an issue when it comes to promotion.

German customers get further reason to buy a 4K TV-- satellite network QVC is bringing a UHD channel in Germany (the 7th in the country) via the SES Video prime orbital slot 19.2 degrees East.

A ten-year agreement has QVC will use additional capacity for the upgrade to UHD, and rely on SES subsidiary MX1 for encoding in HEVC format and uplink services. In addition QVC also renews capacity for distribution of the channel in both standard and high definition.

"As we carry the largest line-up of HD and UHD channels worldwide, it is part of our DNA to help our customers bring the best possible picture quality to their audience. We are very excited to continue working with QVC for its transmission not only in SD and in HD, but now also in Ultra HD,” SES says. “This agreement clearly underlines the ability of SES Video, augmented by MX1, to offer its customers a full suite of video solutions.”

British broadcaster Sky plans to launch the Sky Q service to more European countries, starting from Italy on the holiday season before moving to Germany and Austria sometime during H1 2018.

Announced as part of the broadcaster's fiscal Q1 (ending 30 September 2017) earnings report, the rollout of Sky Q in the rest of Europe follows the early 2016 release of the service in the UK and Ireland. In fact, Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch says Sky Q "continued to grow well" in the UK, with customer numbers growing by 23% Q-o-Q during fiscal Q1, reaching 1.6 million households.

The broadcaster cites the success of the system on its support for 4K content. It currently offers over 1000 hours of 4K resolution content, including sports, movies and TV shows. More 4K content should be on the way as well, thanks to a reductions in production costs.

Germany's Loewe presents what it describes as an "entry-level" 4K TV range-- the Bild 3, offering sets in 43-, 49- and 55-inch sizes at lower costs than the high-end Bild 7 and Bild 9 ranges.

The 43-inch (model 3.43) and 49-inch (3.49) models feature LCD panels with support for HDR 10 and Hybrid Log Gamma (HLG). The 55-inch version ups the ante with an OLED panel and the addition of Dolby Vision HDR.

All models offer an integrated 80W with 4 drivers, 2 passive radiators and a bass reflex port, together with access to streaming services such as Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime TV, BBC iPlayer and Tidal. Bluetooth support is also included for wireless music playback.

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